SHIPSTON-ON-STOUR remains the best place to live in the Midlands.
The town has been voted top of The Sunday Times ‘Best Places to Live’ annual guide for a second successive year.
The list, covering ten regions in Britain, is drawn up from a study of statistics such as crime rates and school performance along with individual assets from local festivals to natural beauty.
A Sunday Times spokesman said: “The Warwickshire market town has the charm of the Cotswolds without the tourists, and is welcoming and friendly, not modish or trendy. It has a strong community spirit and a thriving centre, with fishmongers and family-owned businesses alongside luxury shops and stylish restaurants.
“The town plays host to an annual two-week Proms festival that culminates in a rowdy concert on the market square. There’s a strong community spirit, and properties are far cheaper than in the Cotswolds, a few miles south – a historic three-bedroom home near the town centre can be had for about £340,000.”
The Birmingham suburb of Harbourne was voted the Midlands second best place to live, followed in third by the Derbyshire spa town of Buxton.
But Warwickshire’s own spa town Leamington, which found a place in the top ten last year, was not included this time, although neighbouring Warwick was tenth. There was also no place for Stratford.
The other top ten places in the Midlands were taken by Fiskerton-cum-Morton, Nottinghamshire, in fourth, followed by Lincoln; the Malverns; Market Harborough, Leicestershire; Shrewsbury; and Stamford in Lincolnshire.
